Skink in the garden

A lunchtime trip to the garden in Virginia and there’s a Skink on the path. It’s bathing in the hot sun and completely motionless:

I wish I was.

This one is a male in full breeding colours. That’s what his red head is all about.

There are only two species here. The Five Lined Skink, Plestiodon inexpectatus, and the Broad Headed Skink Plestiodon laticeps. They were only separated as separate species in 1932. This is a Broad-Headed Skink:

I’ve spent time studying the scale pattern of its lips and ears and I’m feeling confident with my identification.

Later in the day I see another one in a local nature preserve with incredible iridescent rainbow scales.

This one? I just can’t tell.